Sikeston officers investigate suspected murder-suicide

SIKESTON, Mo. ­— The death of a Sikeston couple at their home is being investigated.

At 4:43 a.m. Tuesday, the Sikeston Department of Public Safety received a request to check the well-being of a couple at 1206B Lawrence Drive, according to a news release from Sikeston DPS Capt. Mike Williams.

The request was from a friend who had been unable to contact the couple since Saturday.

“The initial responding officers were unable to make contact with couple. All the apartment’s doors and windows were locked, and the couple’s car was also parked in front,” Williams said in the release.

Further information led the officers to enter the apartment forcibly, Williams said.

Once inside, they discovered Candace M. Baum, 26, and James E. Wilder, 58, dead in the living room of the apartment. The scene was secured and held for investigation.

A joint investigation involving Sikeston’s Criminal Investigation Unit and New Madrid County Coroner George DeLisle determined Baum was a victim of domestic homicide, and Wilder committed suicide, both with a firearm.

The investigation is ongoing. The Sikeston Department of Public Safety asks anyone with information to help with the investigation to call the Sikeston DPS Criminal Investigation Unit at (573) 471-4711; private-message the Sikeston Department of Public Safety Facebook page; or visit Sikeston DPS at 201 S. Kingshighway in Sikeston.